Thank You
by Crayola Hearts
Summary: She felt as if the stilts holding up the world had collapsed on her.


_**Author's Note:**__ I swear...I have a thing for character death. Oh well, here's a little one shot for you Aoi x Oga fans. Yeah, it's not that great, I know. Anyway, review please?_

* * *

**_Thank You_**

* * *

She felt as if the stilts holding up the world had collapsed on her.

The news had been more than shocking to her; it had been devastating. She knew she should have been back at the temple with her brother and the others, but she didn't want to be anywhere near that place at the moment. Each time she thought of it, she felt the cracks in her heart break even more as small slivers began to fall away; it wouldn't be long before the whole thing shattered into a mess innumerable splinters. Salty tears welled up behind her eyes, but she used every ounce of self control she possessed to contain them.

She was Aoi Kunieda, former leader of the strongest female gang in the region, the Red Tails; she did not cry.

Or so she liked to believe.

But at this moment that iron self control she usually had on her emotions was failing and one by one the tears began to streak down her cheeks, leaving glistening lines in their wake. She bit into her lip, the white enamel sinking into the raw flesh, but didn't feel an ounce of pain - since the news of her grandfather's death earlier that morning, she had gone numb to any kind of physical pain.

Her frame shook as a shuttered breath forced itself from her lips, followed by the sounds of a choked sob. She wrapped her arms around herself and sat motionless, her eyes locked on the sky that had been painted scarlet by the setting sun. A chilled gust blew towards her, throwing her dark tresses into the air, but still she didn't move.

"Dah bu!"

She didn't move at the sound of Baby Beel's cooing. Even when the green haired child climbed onto her lap and started waving his rattle around, burbling meaninglessly, she didn't respond. The negligence caused the young Demon Lord to frown, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

"O-Oi! Beel don't cry!"

Oga had been on his way home from the store when Beel had caught sight of Kunieda. The child had detached himself from his parent and crawled across the top of the hill to her, only to be neglected. Just as he was about to start in on her for making the baby cry, he caught sight of the tears streaming down her cheek. For a moment he panicked; Oga was never good with women, especially crying ones. And he knew that if she was crying, getting Beel not to cry would be near impossible.

"Kunieda, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling before her.

For the first time in two hours, she gazed upon something other than the horizon. Had it been under any other circumstances, she would have blushed at their proximity, but instead she simply blinked and stared back at him with dead eyes. She tried to respond, but her lip quivered slightly and a choked squeak escaped her lips, taking place of her words. Her body shook as another sob attempted to push itself from her bloody lips. Beel was starting to whine again, gazing up at her with worry.

"O-Oi," his voice was softer than she had thought possible.

He reached forward and wiped the blood from her lower lip with his thumb. "What's wrong."

This time when she spoke, words actually formed on her lips, "he's gone."

Oga's brows knitted, "whose gone? and where'd they go?"

"My grandfather," she said with an unusual snarl, and he's dead."

His mouth dropped as her words filtered through his thick skull._ Dead? The old man?_

"How'd it happen?" he asked, mentally cursing himself afterwards. That probably wasn't the best question to ask.

"The doctors said he had a stroke in his sleep," she said with a shaky breath. "I thought it was odd that he didn't wake me up this morning and when I went in to get him...he was already dead. I don't know how to explain it to Kōta that Grandfather isn't coming back...and I don't even know where my parents are, or if they're coming back."

Oga sighed, scratching the back of his head. He had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation he was presented with. He raked his mind, trying to remember how some stupid movie his sister forced him to watch had gone; if he remembered correctly there was a part where the girl was crying and the guy took his jacket off and threw it over her shoulders. Not knowing what else to do, he peeled the article of clothing off and draped it over her shoulders, startling her.

"Then you'll have to step up and take care of him." Oga wasn't sure what he was saying, words just formed in his mind, escaping from his mouth mere seconds later. "I doubt the Geezer would have wanted you to cry over his death."

She couldn't respond, all she could do was stare up at him with a look of shock etched on her pretty face.

"Meaning," he said, suddenly grabbing her arms and pulling her to her feet, causing Beel to tumble off her lap. He started whimpering until he, noticing how close the two them stood. For a moment he forgot about being throwing to the ground, cocking his head slightly as he gazed at the two with innocent eyes. "You need to get back to the temple and be with your brother."

Aoi stood motionless for a second before smiling, "thank you."

Before he could reply, she pushed herself onto her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek, blushing like a school girl all the while. She suddenly turned on her heels and ran down the street, shouting back something that sounded like "I'll give you your jacket tomorrow!" before she disappeared around the corner, leaving Oga to stare at her retreating back in shock.

"Baby Beel?"

"Dah?"

"What just happened?"


End file.
